Ella's Secret
by SchroedingersKneazle
Summary: Ella Max is happily married to Cygnus Black. But she has a secret that, if discovered, would destroy everything.


To the wizarding world, Ella Max was the perfect pure-blood witch. She had the aristocratic looks with her tall and regal stature and a marble face framed by black curls. Her manners were impeccable, and she was both smart and powerful. She was married to Cygnus Black, heir to the House of Black. They had four little children, Sirius, Phineas, Elladora and Isla. They were the perfect wizarding family. No one knew that Ella had a dark secret that, if it came out, would destroy everything she had. Nobody knew that Ella had been living a lie for the past twenty-three years.

Ella Max was no pure-blood. The Max family had never existed in Britain. Ella Maxwell was a girl from a wealthy muggle family. She had always enjoyed telling stories, but she didn't know how important that talent would become one day. She also had strange powers, which began to manifest themselves at the age of six. At first, even her parents didn't notice them, but by her ninth birthday, they grew increasingly powerful. She began setting things on flames when she was angry. Her parents became scared of her, and finally cast her out, claiming she was possessed by the devil.

After two years of a miserable life in the streets of London, where she developed her magic by using it to steal food from muggles, she was found by a young wizard called Armando Dippet. Dippet was a Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He took her to Diagon Alley, and she was eager to learn as much about the magical world as possible. She was so relieved to learn there was a place, no, a full world for people like her. But she also quickly realized that muggle-borns were looked down upon by many wizards. She never wanted to be an outcast again, so she needed a new identity.

Even though she was muggle-born, the sorting hat had placed her in Slytherin for her cunning and ambition. She told no one about her real family, the family she hated and wanted to forget. Everything she told about her past was a lie. But soon, no one questioned her claim that she descended from an impoverished branch of a noble Austrian pure-blood family. All gaps in her knowledge of the magical world she explained with becoming an orphan early in her life.

She became friends with Luciana Flint, from whom she learnt everything about pure-blood culture. She was a quick learner, and soon, she could have deceived anyone into believing she had grown up among wizards and witches.

The Flints had always wanted a second child, and they treated Ella like their daughter when she spent her summers with them. They introduced her to the balls that young purebloods attended, often with the intention to find a suitable husband.

But as soon as she became attractive as a candidate for marriage, people began delving deeper into her claimed ancestry. She began to research into even more into the real Max family in Austria, started faking family records, and made up more and more stories about the lives of her imaginary parents and grandparents.

At one of those balls, she had met Cygnus Black. It was at Lestrange Manor, and even nobler than those she was used to, at the Burkes or the Goyles. She immediately took notice of the handsome young man with the bright blue eyes and the dark hair. At first, she kept distance. He was too far above her. He was the heir to one of the most noble wizarding families, and she was just an orphan, kindly taken in by the Flint family.

But he still was captivated by her, first by her looks, and then by the stories she told. That orphan girl, poor but brilliant, fascinated him. He asked her for a dance, and they didn't stop for the full evening.

Magenta and Licorus Black were skeptical at first, because of her childhood in poverty, and the complete lack of relations the Max family had in Britain. But the false family records and her various anecdotes about her family did the job, and finally, they agreed to Ella's and Cygnus' marriage.

Ella and Cygnus married in 1842. They bought a house in London, at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, to be close to both Diagon Alley and the ministry. The children came soon. Sirius was born first, followed by Phineas and then the two girls, Elladora and Isla. To the outside they appeared to be a happy family. But Ella never forgot that her luck rested upon a fragile lie that could be discovered any moment.

In 1853, the Black family was struck by tragedy, as terrible outbreak of dragon pox hit Britain, and Sirius was killed, and the rest of the family was scarred by the disease. Ella never got over the loss of her eldest son. Phineas was the perfect pureblood role-model, but Sirius had been vivacious and always up to some mischief. Without him, Grimmauld Place seemed quiet and dead.

Still, Ella saw Phineas grow into one of the brightest wizards of his age. He was the pride of the family. Her good relations with the Flint family made him grow up alongside their daughter Ursula, and the two of them married as soon as they left Hogwarts. But Phineas didn't leave Hogwarts for long, as he soon returned there to teach potions.

Isla, unfortunately, was not as lucky. She fell in love with a muggle called Bob Hitchens, and ran off to marry him. Without hesitation, Cygnus disowned her and blew her off the family tree. Ella was full of guilt for that. She remembered how her family had cast her out for being a witch. Was she any better now? But the lie had to be maintained. Ella remained quiet and would never see her daughter again.

Written for the **The Potions Class Challenge (Antidote to Veritaserum -** **Write about a character doing everything to conceal the truth about something.)  
** and for the **Early House of Black Speculation Challenge.**


End file.
